Disclaimer: Characters from BtVS owned by Joss Whedon, Fox Television, and others. The other ideas are owned by others.

Weapons

Buffy was sitting on the back porch with an eclectic collection of her more interesting weapons scattered in front of her. There was the 'to be sharpened' pile, the 'clean corrosive demon blood off of it' pile, the 'strange but effective' pile, and the 'heck if I know why I kept it' pile. In front of each pile was the appropriate set of cleaning tools and chemicals. She'd just picked up a broadsword and was preparing to sharpen it when she was interrupted by someone sitting down on the steps.

Looking up, she noticed her best friend looking at her curiously.

"What are you up to, Buffy?"

"You know how Giles gets a bit annoyed if my weapons aren't taken care of when I'm done with them. We spent yesterday going through all of the things we keep in the Magic Box. Thought I would go through the ones I keep at home."

"Ah, bowing to the pressure of Watcher tweediness. It had to happen some day." Willow grinned at her. "Just be glad Xander isn't here to see it."

"And we won't tell him, will we?" Buffy suggested, twirling the broadsword in an exaggerated movement.

"No need to threaten the best friend." Willow frowned nervously.

"That wasn't a threat! Just a suggestion for continued harmonious friendship." Buffy grinned at her friend and turned back to the 'to be sharpened pile to get her sharpening tools..

"Buffy? Where did you get some of these? I don't recognize them."

"Well, sometimes I run across strange creatures or someone picks a fight with me." She grinned wolfishly. "I take any weapons that aren't ruined in the fight back to the Magic Box and Giles lets me keep the unusual ones I like as a trophy. The rest we sell. There's quite a black market in shiny, pointy objects."

"So there's a story behind all of these?" Willow gestured at the piles.

"Yes. Most of them aren't that exciting. Just someone who foolishly thought they could kill a slayer."

"What about that one?" she pointed at the sword Buffy was sharpening.

"Oh. That was a result of mistaken identity. Some guy thought I was someone else and wouldn't take my word that I wasn't who he was looking for."

"You don't normally run into people with swords in Sunnydale. Where did he come from? And how'd you beat someone with a sword with your stake?" Willow shivered at the image of her friend facing a long sword with just a short piece of wood.

"Well, you know that Kracatous demon I told you about last summer? The only way to kill one of those thing is to chop it into small pieces. I'd just finished it off when this guy attacks me with a sword, shouting something about 'There Can Only Be One' and wouldn't listen to me. I think he was some kind of demon."

"Why?"

"He kept getting up and his wounds seemed to heal almost instantly. Had to behead him to stop him."

"Ew..." Willow turned pale. Being a voyeur of Buffy's slaying activities did have drawbacks occasionally.

"And freaky. There was this big explosion when I did it, like being in the middle of a thunderstorm. Lightening everywhere. Not sure how I survived it but I felt like I'd had too much caffeine for days afterward."

"Did you ever find out why he attacked you?"

"No. But I did get this nice shiny sword out of it." and Buffy grinned.

Note: In response to a TtH 20 minute challenge (Buffy).

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